Boat Story star watched The Tourist to grasp thriller's "unusual" tone
"I'd never seen anything quite like the scripts I was reading."
Boat Story, the latest title from dynamic sibling duo Harry and Jack Williams, is an action-thriller that follows two ordinary people who find themselves in the possession of a haul of cocaine uncovered from a shipwrecked vessel.
But their grand plan to sell their wares and split the cash stumbles when a gangster gets wind of what they're up to.
"Pushed to the very edge, can they trust each other and get away with their lives and the money?" asks the official synopsis.
Speaking to RadioTimes.com and other press, star Paterson Joseph (Vigil, Peep Show) said that he watched The Tourist, another of the Williams brothers' productions, to get to grips with the show.
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"I needed to watch," he said. "We were doing episode 1 – and I hadn't seen The Tourist at that point – and I was thinking, 'What's the feel of this show? It's funny, but it's not funny. It's violent, but it's witty. What are they going for?'
"I'd never seen anything quite like the scripts I was reading."
This isn't the first time Jospeh has worked with Harry and Jack Williams. He also appeared in 2017's Rellik, a crime drama told in reverse.
"Rellik was pretty straightforward in many ways," he explained. "It was just a pretty straightforward, detective thriller. It was very dark, but it didn't have any of the confident, dark humour that you have in The Tourist and that you have in this."
But Joseph's co-star Daisy Haggard (Back to Life, Breeders) went on to say that while The Tourist "feels like a step in the same journey", the two shows are "fundamentally quite different", adding: "It's the most experimental and expressive [Williams brothers'] show, it's just quite an unusual show."
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Alongside the lead duo, Baptiste and The Missing star Tchéky Karyo plays the "sharp suited gangster". Other cast members include Joanna Scanlan (After Love, Notes on A Scandal), Craig Fairbrass (One Piece, Villain and Muscle) and Phil Daniels (Quadrophenia, House of the Dragon).
"Boat Story embodies twists and turns with character-driven, surprising storytelling," reads the press release.
It adds: "Off-beat humour contrasts with high-octane action sequences against the spectacular backdrop of the beautiful, windswept Yorkshire coastline."
Boat Story arrives on Sunday 19th November on BBC One and iPlayer. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on.
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Authors
Abby Robinson is the Drama Editor for Radio Times, covering TV drama and comedy titles. She previously worked at Digital Spy as a TV writer, and as a content writer at Mumsnet. She possesses a postgraduate diploma and a degree in English Studies.
